The company's CEO said on Wednesday that his firm had moved roughly 5 million of the metal-unibody devices in its first month on the market, despite all the issues surrounding parts delays and (according to The Verge) issues with the anodizing process in the black variant. By contrast, Samsung Electronics Comp., Ltd. (KSC:005930) saw a far smoother launch, but shipped 10 million Galaxy S IVs -- perhaps not as resounding a win as it might have hoped.

Part of the HTC One's sales may come thanks to strong reviews and the aforementioned slick metal-body. The metal-and-glass design in Apple, Inc.'s (AAPL) iPhone has long been held up as a key selling point; HTC's all-metal body won similar praise.

The HTC One

HTC CEO Peter Chou, who is grappling with the decision of whether to step down amid financial struggles, toldThe Wall Street Journal, "Orders are pretty good so far and are still more than what we can supply. This is partly due to the shortage of components. When the issue is resolved next month, we will have a better idea if it's doing really well or not."